Osteospermum L.
Annual or perennial herbs or shrubs, not armed. Lvs usually alternate, rarely opposite, simple, entire, toothed, or pinnatisect. Capitula solitary or in loose corymbs. Involucral bracts in 1-4 rows, with membranous margins. Receptacle flat or convex; scales 0. Outer florets ♀, ligulate, yellow, white, purple, pinkish mauve, or white on upper surface and purple on lower. Inner florets tubular, functionally ♂. Achenes all similar or dimorphic, straight or curved, terete, ribbed, angled or winged; pappus 0.
Key
c. 70 spp., mainly South and E. Africa, also extending to E. Mediterranean. Naturalised spp. 2.
The 2 naturalised spp. belong to sect. Blaxium (Cass.) Norlindh of South Africa. This section comprises 8 spp. which have mostly been included within Dimorphotheca Moench. Norlindh (op. cit.) recommended the re-establishment of the Cassinian genus Blaxium for these spp. because they are distinguished from both Dimorphotheca and Osteospermum by a combination of morphological and chemical characters. However, Blaxium is retained here as a section of Osteospermum because a treatment at generic level is not yet available.
